Reviewed by William "Willy" Vizcarrondo, NYS DEC Certified Commercial Pesticide Applicator C1825832. Updated September 23, 2026.
Short answer
Not reliably. UC IPM's guidance is that while some cats catch house mice, there are few situations in which they'll sufficiently control a rodent population, and the presence of a predator can make mice more secretive, so you see fewer and assume the problem is solved. A cat catches the mouse that comes out; it doesn't seal the hole.
A good mouser catches the mice that cross open floor, and that's real; a house with a cat that hunts will have fewer mice in the living space. But the mice that matter live inside the walls, behind the stove, in the basement ceiling and in the garage, where the cat can't go, and UC IPM notes mice seldom travel more than 30 feet from the nest to food, so a nest in the kitchen wall with a pantry next to it doesn't need to cross the living room. UC IPM's specific warning is that predators can make rodents more cryptic: the mice change their routes and timing to avoid the cat, and the household sees less evidence while the population carries on.
A cat can make a mouse problem worse. Cat food left in a bowl on the kitchen floor overnight is exactly the reliable food source a mouse nest needs, and both UC IPM and the CDC list removing pet food as a basic step in rodent control. The same goes for dogs and for birdseed on the porch. A house with a cat, a full food bowl at night and a gap under the garage door has everything a mouse wants and a predator it can easily avoid.
The same thing that works without a cat: seal the gaps larger than a quarter inch with steel wool and caulk, hardware cloth or metal; keep food, pet food and birdseed in sealed containers and pick up the bowls at night; and trap the mice that are already inside, with enough traps, no more than 10 feet apart, where the droppings are. Keep the cat away from the traps, or use the enclosed kind. A cat is a nice addition to that plan, not a replacement for it.
We treat plenty of Long Island houses with cats in them. The typical call is a homeowner who assumed the cat had it handled until the droppings showed up in the pantry in November, and the nest turns out to be in the garage ceiling, where the cat has never been. In apartment buildings in Long Beach or Hempstead, the cat in your unit does nothing about the population in the building.
Related
No, not in any way you can count on. Mice will avoid an obvious predator's territory when they have a choice, but a mouse nesting in a wall with food a few feet away doesn't have to cross the cat's space, and the smell of a cat in the living room doesn't reach the garage.
No. UC IPM notes cats and dogs provide minimal rodent control. Some terriers hunt and will catch mice they can reach, but the nest is in a wall or ceiling void the dog can't get to, and dog food left down overnight is a steady meal for the mice.
Yes, which is another reason not to rely on it. Mice carry parasites and bacteria that a cat can pick up by eating them, and a cat that eats a mouse poisoned with rodenticide can be poisoned itself. If you use bait at all, it belongs in a locked, tamper-resistant station outdoors, never loose where a pet can reach the bait or the dead mouse.
Still not sure? Call (516) 509-6001 and we'll tell you what you're dealing with.